Gadget of the Week: A57 adds
up to AI for the rest of us

What is it?

The Galaxy A series has always been Samsung’s argument that most people do not need to spend flagship money to get a capable phone. The A57 5G extends that argument into the AI era, delivering tools and capabilities that, until recently, were accessible only in the upper reaches of the range. Now, it comes down to a price that reflects what most buyers actually spend.

Voice Transcription, Object Eraser, Best Face burst mode, Circle to Search with Google, are all now standard expectations in the new A57 5G.

AI features on mid-range phones have historically been decorative, present in the settings menu, but rarely practical and rarely used, typically because the device itself was not capable. For once, they can’t blame ignorant users: these are features every kid is itching to put to work.

The A57 may not use the most powerful processor, but anyone leaping to the future from five years ago would be blown away by the Exynos 1680 chipset, built on a 4nm process – as thin as phone chips get. It runs on Samsung’s One UI 8.5 skin, over the Android opeating system and, in combination gives the AI layer enough processing headroom to be genuinely useful.

Voice Transcription, new to the Voice Recorder app, converts recordings into searchable text and can translate as it goes. That’s the none I put to use more than  any other, as it makes interviews and conference sessions so much easier to adapt to articles. People ask whether I use AI for my writing. The answer is, with tools like this, how could I not? Especially if we are talking about the building blocks of articles, such as interview transcripts and subject-matter research, rather than the writing itself.

Generally, for anyone who records meetings, interviews, or lectures, the time recovered from re-listening to recordings is the most tangible return the phone offers, for students as much as professionals.

AI Select, accessed via a long press on the Edge Panel, presents relevant actions directly on screen: extracting text from an image, pulling content into Samsung Notes, dragging a graphic into Photo Editor without navigating between apps. Drag and Drop in Multi-Window layout extends this into editing tasks that most people previously reserved for a laptop.

Circle to Search with Google now handles multiple objects within a single image simultaneously, identifying each item as a separate query. The update closes a gap that made the feature feel half-finished on earlier devices.

The camera makes the A57’s clearest argument. The triple-camera system leads with a 50MP main sensor at f/1.8, with optical image stabilisation and a 1/1.56-inch format — generous for this price tier — alongside an ultra-wide lens and a 5MP macro. An upgraded Image Signal Processor works across all three.

Best Face now supports continuous burst shooting across a wider frame range, making it more reliable in the chaotic conditions of actual group photos. Object Eraser has matured to the point where it requires no qualification. Earlier versions left visible artefacts at the edit boundary. On the A57, removing a background distraction from a portrait produces results that hold up to close inspection.

Nightography handles the lighting conditions that expose mid-range cameras most harshly. In a dim restaurant, skin tones stayed natural and background detail remained fairly solid. Clear Nightography Video kept footage stable and largely free of the grain that undermines video in this segment. Auto Trim and Edit Suggestions extend the AI assistance into video editing, with the phone proposing cuts and refinements.

At 179g and 6.9mm thick, the phone is noticeably light for its screen size, with a glossy finish and a distinctive triple-camera island.

The screen is fairly standard for the top of the mid-range, with a 6.7-inch Super AMOLED+ display running at 120Hz. A Vision Booster manages outdoor brightness without manual adjustment. The 5,000mAh battery covered two full days of real use, including camera, navigation, messaging, and streaming. At 45W, Super-Fast Charging 2.0 returned it to 60% in around 30 minutes.

Knox Vault provides hardware-level security, and a new Private Album feature in the Gallery app locks personal media behind a separate layer without requiring a third-party application. A promise of six generations of Android OS and One UI upgrades, along with six years of security updates, extend the device’s useful life well beyond the typical two-year upgrade cycle.

What does it cost?

The Samsung Galaxy A57 5G is priced from R11,999 in South Africa.

Does it make a difference?

Mid-range phones have long asked buyers to accept a compromised version of what higher-priced devices offer. The A57 5G suggests users do not need to compromise: it says that the AI tools worth having day to day are now available at a price that reflects what most people are willing to spend. Six years of software support means the device grows alongside its owner rather than dating quickly.

What are the biggest negatives?

• The Exynos 1680 runs warm under sustained gaming load.
• No headphone jack and no microSD card slot remain frustrations at this price point.

What are the biggest positives?

• Voice Transcription is immediately practical for anyone who records spoken content regularly.
• Object Eraser and Nightography have reached a standard that requires no apology.
• Six years of OS and security updates reframe the A57 as a long-term purchase.
• The AI features are woven into daily use rather than buried in menus.

* Arthur Goldstuck is CEO of World Wide Worx, editor-in-chief of Gadget.co.za, and author of “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to AI – The African Edge”.